Goodsir, correspondence

• MS 116/25/1-3;D Letters (3) to Mrs William Penny, 28 June 1850 to 4 May 1851 [Regarding William Edward Parry and the search for Sir John Franklin] 4 leaves, holograph

Jane's brother Robert he joined the whaler Advice under William Penny on the British Whaling and Franklin Search Expedition. Sailing in company with the whaler Truelove (Captain Parker), the two vessels lay whaling off Pond Inlet, Baffin Bay, until an Eskimo report that Franklin and his men had been seen alive was brought to Parker. The expedition then entered Lancaster Sound but ice prevented them from passing beyond Brodeur Peninsula. His account of the expedition was published in 1850.

The following year, Goodsir was appointed surgeon in HMS Lady Franklin on the British Franklin Search Expedition, 1850-1851 (leader William Penny), instructed to search for Franklin's missing expedition in Jones Sound and Wellington Channel and in the unexplored region beyond Cape Walker, Barrow Strait. In the spring of 1851, Goodsir travelled up the east coast of Cornwallis Island by sledge before exploring the north coast as far as Little Cornwallis Island where open water obliged him to turn back.

Chronological

The Institute holds archival collections for Robert Goodsir and William Penny